21 August 2006

Digital Second Amendment

I'm fixated on privacy.

I was watching a friend do a little hacking a couple months ago, and as I watched the pokeing and prodding at servers around the world (nothing illegal, just demonstrating technique!), I realized that basically this person had superpowers.

I was jealous.

Very Jealous.

While I stewed over my thoroughly lame skill set in comparison, I also started thinking about security issues. And so as our lives move increasingly into digital domains, and increasingly substantial chunks of our well being are wrapped up in electronic traces, everyday citizens remain pretty clueless about how to protect themselves. I started browsing computer security shelves in bookstores. The tools are designed for enterprise systems, the audience is businesses or institutions -- not much is directed to the end user (aka, me!). What I want is transparency. I want to know how to protect myself. I want to know who has access to what information about me, what my vulnerabilities are in the electronic sphere. Actually, I'd be pretty happy if I could tell if my front door is locked.

But it turns out that I don't know how to do the equivalent of scanning a dark street at night to see if it's one I'll walk down alone. I also don't know how to check to make sure my wallet is still in my pocket. And I don't know how to draw my blinds, or lock my windows. I don't know how to see if someone is following me, or if there is a huge gaping hole in the roof of my house from a windstorm. I'm not stupid, and I'm pretty good at figuring things out. I think that I have as much of a need as any large institution to make sure I'm protected. And I think I've decided that I want the ability to protect myself. I don't know of many tools, though, that make it possible for individuals without specialized skill to ensure their own electronic security. On one bookstore trip I found a book called Security and Usability. I'm looking for more around this conversation.

This is not to say that my car can't be stolen or my house broken into. I'm not looking for any sort of guaranteed protection. But I at least want to know when someone has rifled through my stuff.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi beth, nice, open, passionate blog :-) i read the last ed of the newscientist today (16 sept issue or www.newscientist.com) and thought of you - you'll find articles from page 43 related to your privacy issues. best wishes, marcus from berlin

Anonymous said...

ps. try "claimID.com", too

Anonymous said...

more less rest please!

Anonymous said...

I found your blog post via a Google search on "Digital Second Amendment". My intentions were to explore the meaning of the Second Amendment (check the power of a corrupt government) in the context of an increasingly digital world.

You use the works "Digital Second Amendment" in the context of protecting yourself which I wasn't thinking of.

In today's society we are increasingly vulnerable to information / database fraud. Try getting on a plane if your information was falsely entered into the "no-fly" list. Or buying a house that is next to a school if you've been entered in the sex offender's database. Or say your name was entered into the gun registry next to one that was used in a violent crime.

This represents a power the government has that is unchecked. The way the Constitution is written provides for checks-and-balances on government powers. Therefore I believe we should be able to challenge the data compiled on citizens and build aggregator tools to make this easy.

Thank you for the post.